Orlando music blog & zine

Category: Hip Hop

A combination of glitchy VHS tapes and flashing colors, TEDD.GIF’s latest video is disorientating, fitting for the sloshed performance by the ORL MC. TEDD confidently slurs through one of the tightest hooks off Lil Mixtape, as LANLORD comes through with a slick beat. The whole joint sounds like it was filtered through some thick codeine. (When the beat stops then reverse, I’m like “oohh.”)

This video is raw. Footage of hazy, party-filled nights, no sleep, no fuckboys allowed. matthew warhol even makes a tiny appearance. S/O Retro Neon Records, TEDD.GIF, LANLORD, Jawl Nini, and Charles Wheatle for putting together another dope piece of art.

Chance really is one of the most uniquely emotive MCs in hip hop. Take this track fore example: Chance raps in a monotone voice as he lists everything hates in his existence. There’s no anger in his words, just a looming depression. Chance’s character in “No Better Blues” is hopelessly numb. His hate is really a passive unfeeling that is beautifully depicted by the both Chance and the stripped instrumental. Enjoy.

Does the term “banger” offend you? If so, then you might call this track an up-tempo anthem with snappy snares and brick-hard spitting. I however, prefer the less convoluted noun, banger. No matter what you call it, this song presents three MC’s in top form. Run The Jewels is a rap syndicate, composed of two modern-day wordsmiths: Killer Mike and El-P. “Close Your Eyes” is the latest track teasing their second full-length, RTJ2. On their latest preview, Run The Jewels are joined by Rage Against The Machine frontman Zack de la Rocha, who I haven’t heard form in some time, but hasn’t lost the beat. He instead, kills the beat and leaves it on the curb. Enjoy.

“i” is an important single for Kendrick Lamar. The Compton MC is at crossroads in his career, and our first taste of new music points him in a very specific direction. After the platinum-selling, introspective short-film that was good kid, m.A.A.d. city, many fans began to think of him as a fresh new creative with a strong message. However, his most successful songs are his numerous features, where K. Dot spits braggadocious bars about money, women, and guns. “i,” with its up-lifting chorus and strong stance, shows us he’s headed further down the former road, the road of conscious rap.

What an interesting piece this is. I never thought I would hear the Hood Pope rapping over this colorful, museum-like instrumental by SBTRKT and Warpaint. The haunting piano chords married with Ferg’s wacky flow creates the funnest haunted house you’ve ever been to. Enjoy.

In the wake of the conflict in Ferguson, this song seeks to educate listeners on the plight of the black community. Three poets share struggles experienced firsthand. I urge you to follow along with the lyrics. Who knows? You might learn something. Enjoy.

I gotta give a shout out to my boy Johnny B for this one. This brilliant collaboration came out a few months back, but I just heard it from him last week. What shocked me later was the realization that Orlando musician XXYYXX was involved in the production of this track. The bare-bones electronic beat and staccato snares should have been the giveaway. Oh well. Congrats to him for his incredible success; it’s nice to see one of Orlando’s own getting a name. Looking back to the song, Chance delivers a knockout verse. He manipulates word patterns seamlessly while bouncing lines back-and-forth about “weed on the vinyl” and “crowd surf[ing] in a cypher.” Enjoy.